The door covering the passenger air bag in an automotive vehicle opens only when the air bag deploys. At all other times the door remains closed.
In the past, the door covering the air bag has been made separately from the instrument panel. The door and the instrument panel might both be covered with the same decorative material which could be vinyl or the like. It was expected that the door would then blend in and not stand out as something different from the rest of the instrument panel.
This was not always the case. Often the decorative material used to cover the door was taken from a different lot having a slightly different shade or texture or gloss or grain, or the grain ran in a different direction. This was particularly noticeable along the seam lines of adjacent edges.
In accordance with the present invention, the door is attached to the instrument panel before the decorative material is applied. The decorative material is then applied as a single, continuous layer covering both the door and the instrument panel. The decorative material covering the door is an integral extension of the decorative material covering the instrument panel proper,and extends across the integral hinge at the top of the door.
Further, in accordance with the invention, the door is disposed between a pair of air vent apertures. An air outlet distributor is placed in each aperture and the inner edges of the distributors are substantially flush with the side edges of the door. The distributors are made of a different material than the decorative layer covering the instrument panel and door. Fit and finish along the side edges of-the door is therefore not as critical as if the edges formed a seam with the similarly covered instrument panel proper.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method of making an instrument panel assembly having the features referred to above.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds, especially when considered with the accompanying drawings.